Are we entitled to compensation for this knock on delay? And are there any rules governing redirections?
So we were flying with a budget airline from Stuttgart to Naples. The flight was delayed by approximately 1.5 hours at the start. 20 minutes away from Naples we were told we were getting rerouted to Brindisi (300 km away) which due to its small size, has no transit to anywhere at the time we arrive.
We arrived around 10pm. We had to wait 4 hours for a bus to pick us up, and then drive 4 hours to Naples making the delay extremely long. The cause for the detour was the runway was not clear due to an obstruction.
My question is, what are the rules regarding where we should be redirected too? Should we have not been redirected to a closer airport like Rome (200km), and this was just a way to save money by landing at a smaller cheaper airport? The only other redirected flight was also a different budget airline.
My second question, it is entirely possible we could have landed prior to the incident at Naples Airport had we left on time. Is this not their fault for having the delay extended due to their initial delay? I can imagine this can get abused by airlines by checking to see if a storm is coming into the area and just delay the plane 3 hours until the storm hits so they can blame it on the weather. Would we not be entitled to compensation?
So in summary, my two questions are:
Are we not entitled to compensation since their 1.5hr delay likely caused the 10hr delay?
Is there any rules governing where airplanes are redirected too?
Best Answer
For the purposes of compensation following Regulation 261/2004, the delay is always measured on arrival to your final destination. The length of a delay on departure only affect the duty of the carrier to take care of accomodation, refreshments etc.
There's no law saying where you should get diverted, that's purely a operational/safety decision of the ATC/pilot/airline/etc. It's fairly likely that other airports were too congested or otherwise operationally inconvenient.
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How many hours delay for compensation?
If your flight's delayed for 3 or more hours You're entitled to get compensation if the flight arrives more than 3 hours late and it's the airline's fault - for example, if they didn't get enough bookings or there was a technical fault.How do I claim EU261?
Passengers are only entitled to claim under the law if the delay or cancellation was within the airline's control. EU Reg 261 requires airlines to compensate passengers when flight delays or cancellations result in passengers reaching their final destination more than three hours later than originally scheduled.What is compensation delay?
Delayed Compensation means amounts payable to the Issuer as a result of, inter alia, a delay due to a technical or administrative error or delay in settlement of a Collateral Obligation.Are airlines required to compensate for delays?
There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed. Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers. If your flight is experiencing a long delay, ask airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room.Variations and Delay
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